Optimum Vs.Maximum Yield

Carrying over unused catch limits from one season to the next hurts our chances of recharging our waters with the most and biggest fish

- Rip Cunningham

Commercial fisheries are required to report their catches more often and more accurately than recreational fisheries. This makes it difficult to collect enough scientific and statistically sound data on recreational catches to ensure sustainable recreational practices. When you add in-season adjustments to this mix, you’re left with a whole lot of room for error. So, what’s to be done?

Going back a few years, recreational interests got the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 passed. Part of this required the National Academy of Sciences to issue a report on how well the Marine Recreational Information Program (M R I P) meets in-season management needs for fisheries with an annual catch limit (ACL). Could survey methods or management strategies be modified to meet those needs?